Comparison

Seattle Light Rail vs Seattle Buses

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Seattle Light Rail

Plan trips, view live arrivals, and find station details for light rail and regional transit. Get real-time alerts and helpful boarding information. Supports multiple languages and offers offline functionality.

Highlights
  • Offline trip planning
  • Live arrival times
  • Disruption alerts
  • Station facility information
  • Boarding advice
  • Saved trips
  • Apple Watch app
Features
Read full description

Plan your Link light rail trip, check live arrivals and service alerts, and find the best car to board for your exit. Explore station entrances, facilities, and step-free access information. Save your regular trips, receive optional disruption alerts, and follow stop-by-stop guidance with Trip Companion. Widgets, Live Activities, and Apple Watch keep useful trip information close at hand. Core rail planning works offline with a bundled timetable. Live information requires an internet connection. Available in 22 languages. No account required. No advertising, analytics, or tracking SDKs. Seattle Light Rail is an independent app, not affiliated with or endorsed by Sound Transit or any other transit agency. Link, ORCA, and related marks belong to their respective owners.

About

Seattle Buses

Track live bus positions on a clear map of King County Metro routes. Save custom route sets and stops for your daily commute. Easily access routes using Siri shortcuts.

Highlights
  • Live bus tracking on map
  • Color-coded route lines
  • Compare up to four routes
  • Show bus stops and arrivals
  • Save custom route sets
  • Siri integration for routes
Features
Read full description

Simple. Built by local commuters, for local commuters. Seattle Buses helps you see where your bus is before you head to the stop. Follow live buses, compare your usual routes, and check estimated arrivals so you can time your trip with less guesswork. Don't just miss the bus that's coming around the corner. See what's approaching and whether another bus is close behind. If a bus pulls up busy, check where the next one is before deciding whether to wait. Seattle Buses shows bus locations and estimated arrivals, not passenger crowding levels. FOR OUR SEATTLE NEIGHBORHOODS From Fremont, Wallingford, Green Lake, Ballard, and Magnolia to South Lake Union (SLU) and Seattle's north end, this is a simple tool for the trips we take every day. Built for neighbors in South Lake Union, Cascade, Eastlake, Westlake, Northlake, Queen Anne, Uptown, Interbay, Magnolia, Fremont, Wallingford, Green Lake, Phinney Ridge, Greenwood, Ballard, Adams, West Woodland, Whittier Heights, Loyal Heights, Sunset Hill, Crown Hill, North Beach, Blue Ridge, Broadview, Bitter Lake, Haller Lake, Licton Springs, Northgate, Maple Leaf, Pinehurst, Olympic Hills, Lake City, Cedar Park, Matthews Beach, Meadowbrook, Wedgwood, View Ridge, Sand Point, Hawthorne Hills, Laurelhurst, Bryant, Ravenna, Roosevelt, the University District, and Montlake. The app follows the selected Metro routes listed below; not every route or stop in these neighborhoods is included. YOUR EVERYDAY COMMUTE, MADE SIMPLE • See live bus positions and compare up to four routes on one map. • Tap a stop for estimated arrivals from approaching buses. • Save up to three route sets for your morning, afternoon, or evening. • Open My Route to see the routes and stops saved for that time of day. • Open a favorite route with Siri and Shortcuts. • Choose your route colors and a light, dark, or system appearance. No account to create. Your saved route sets stay on your device. Arrival times are estimates calculated from live bus positions and remaining route distance using an average speed of 22 mph. They are not official Metro arrival predictions or scheduled departure times. Actual arrivals vary with traffic, stops, and service changes. Live vehicle availability depends on Metro’s real-time feed. Supported routes: 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 17, 24, 28, 31, 32, 33, 40, 44, 45, 62, 65, 70, C, D, and E. Transit scheduling, geographic, and real-time data provided by permission of King County.

Screenshots

Seattle Light Rail4 screens
Seattle Buses4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Seattle Light Rail at every 6 days against Seattle Buses's fortnightly. Seattle Light Rail also leads on device support (3 vs 1). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Seattle Light Rail against 5.0 for Seattle Buses. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 5 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Seattle Light Rail ships an update every 6 days, Seattle Buses fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Seattle Light Rail versus Seattle Buses: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSeattle Light RailSeattle Buses
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings35 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdam AarniokoskiCollin Bordeaux

Customer experience

Seattle Light Rail

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Seattle Buses

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Seattle Light Rail

No in-app purchases

None

Seattle Buses

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Seattle Light Rail free?
Seattle Light Rail is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Seattle Buses free?
Seattle Buses is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Seattle Light Rail or Seattle Buses?
Seattle Light Rail and Seattle Buses are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 5 ratings respectively.
Do Seattle Light Rail or Seattle Buses have ads?
Neither Seattle Light Rail nor Seattle Buses shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Seattle Light Rail or Seattle Buses?
Seattle Light Rail ships an update every 6 days, and Seattle Buses fortnightly. Most recently, Seattle Light Rail was updated on October 31, 2026 and Seattle Buses on October 31, 2026.

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